The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Aiden tracks Daniel through the woods and sees him meet up with the Footman. Daniel allows the Footman to beat him up so that he can falsely claim to have been attacked and maintain the illusion that he and the Footman are enemies. It seems clear to Aiden that “they’re working together. Daniel’s formed a partnership with the Footman and they’re hunting Anna on the Plague Doctor’s behalf” (315).

Aiden now thinks he has solved the murder of Thomas Hardcastle, but this doesn’t help him with Evelyn’s murder. Grace Davies catches up with Aiden and tells him what she remembers about the day of Thomas’s murder. Grace recalls that Thomas had been acting strangely for about a week and took off abruptly while the other children were playing together.

Back at the house, Cunningham warmly greets Rashton and Grace, as he is a good friend of theirs. Cunningham has the key to Sebastian Bell’s room; Grace wants to steal some of Bell’s drugs to punish him for dealing to her brother.